


Personal Space

by Spunkybob5



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Hotels, M/M, Personal Space, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 00:44:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6262759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunkybob5/pseuds/Spunkybob5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The lost conversation wherein Dean explains personal space to Castiel. No spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Space

Dean pulled his shirt over his head, whistling. He grabbed his keys, tossing them in his left hand while he tucked his wallet into his back pocket with his right. He turned towards the door.

And slammed into an angel.

“Dammit Cas!”

“Hello, Dean.”

Dean rubbed his shoulder where it connected with Cas. Dude was basically a brick wall, and completely unfazed by a full grown man walking into him. Dean frowned. “Stop doing that.”

Cas tilted his head. “Stop doing what?”

“Appearing right behind me. You’re all up in my bubble, man.”

Now Cas looked totally lost. “You…have a bubble?”

“Yes. All humans do.”

Cas peered at the air around Dean, still standing so close Dean’s chest brushed his with every inhale. “I don’t understand. You do not appear to have a bubble. How would you store a bubble? They are inherently fragile.”

Dean closed his eyes and counted to five. “I don’t mean an actual, physical bubble, Cas. Well, no, it is physical. It’s just not something you can see. It’s invisible.”

Cas blinked. “Humans have…invisible…physical…bubbles.”

“Yes. No! Um,” Dean rubbed the back of his neck. He wished Sam was here to explain this to Castiel. Sam was the wordsmith. Dean was decidedly not. “OK,” he said, trying a new tactic. “The bubble is a metaphor. For personal space.”

Dean was pretty pleased with his use of advanced vocabulary for about three seconds. Which is when Cas tilted his head again and replied, “I don’t understand. How can space be personal? I’ve flown through space, Dean. It definitely does not belong to any one person.”

“Not outer space, Cas!” Dean felt his impatience mounting, and took a deep breath. “The air around a person is their space. Most humans don’t want other people in it.”

Cas considered that. “Then how do humans touch? Would they not have to be in one another’s air for that?”

Dean paused. That was a legitimate question. “Well…” he hedged. “Humans like the people in their personal space to have been invited in.”

“I understand,” Cas replied.

He didn’t move, though.

“Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?”

“You mind stepping out of my personal space?”

“Of course.” Cas took a small step back.

Dean resisted the urge to sigh. “One more step, there, buddy.”

Cas sized up the space between them, then took a huge step back.

This time Dean really did sigh. “Dude. I appreciate the effort, but now you’re weirdly far away.”

Cas frowned. “People skills are difficult.”

“Yup.” Dean took pity on Cas. He took a small step forward, arriving at a socially acceptable distance apart. “OK, see this distance?”

“Yes.”

“This is the appropriate amount of space between us. Remember it. When you pop into my room, try and stay this distance away.”

Cas stared seriously at the space between them, recording it for future reference. “One more question.”

“Shoot.”

“How do you know?”

Dean frowned. “How do I know what?”

“How do you know this is the appropriate distance?”

“Oh.” Dean considered that. “It just feels right. We aren’t strangers, and we aren’t, you know, doing it, so somewhere in the middle is right.”

“That is not very scientific.”

Dean laughed. “No, man, I guess it’s not.”

Cas looked surprised, then mildly pleased by Dean’s laughter. “So if we aren’t strangers and we’re not lovers, how would you define our relationship?”

Still smiling, Dean stepped towards Cas, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “We’re friends, Cas. Now c’mon. I’m hungry. Let’s find burgers.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first post. Please be kind. :-)


End file.
